Woman hopes to make county roads safer

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A cross and flowers are what remain at the intersection of U.S. 52 and 450 East in Tippecanoe County, almost two weeks after an early morning wreck took the life of 19-year-old Kailee Thayer-Ahlrich.

Thayer-Ahlrich's friend Jaime Johnson said she felt helpless when she heard the news of the accident.

"Being at the funeral home, hugging her mom, and not knowing what to say to her mom because I still have my child, really bothered me," said Johnson. "Then I got to thinking, my child is going to be driving soon, is he going to be come victim of the same kind of scene?"

Johnson is making it her mission to help prevent an accident like Thayer-Ahlrich's. The mission is called Cross Roads for Kailee.

Johnson is working to get county road intersections marked better, starting with the one where Kailee died.

"At the very least, a flasher at some sort there," said Johnson. "Our ultimate goal is to have a stop light."

Johnson created a Facebook page for Cross Roads for Kailee. In just 4 days, it has more than 700 likes.

She's also contacted state and county highway departments.

"We still don't have any answers, but it doesn't stop us from wanting to start raising money," said Johnson. "It's going to take a lot of money to do something."

Opal Kuhl is with the Tippecanoe County Highway Department. The department isn't in charge of the 52 and 450 East intersection.

Kuhl said that's in the state's jurisdiction.

Yet, Kuhl said most agencies use the same standards when it comes to marking intersections. Those standards come from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

"Most of the standards are based on the volume of the road, the volume of traffic, any accident data and any geographic considerations," said Kuhl.

"I would think one life is worth the money," said Johnson.

Johnson said she plans to work endlessly to make sure something is done to make at least one intersection safer.